What’s Shohei Ohtani facing after second Tommy John? ‘Going through it twice is not easy’

Jameson Taillon was among the 43,326 fans in Minute Park for Game 7 of the 2019 World Series, his arm in a brace following his second Tommy John surgery as he watched former Pittsburgh Pirates teammate Daniel Hudson, a fellow two-time Tommy John survivor, nail down the final three outs for the Washington Nationals. “I’ve really never seen anyone as competitive as Shohei, so I would expect him to be the same pitcher, as he’s expecting himself to be the pitcher he was when he was healthy.” But there are no guarantees, as the Dodgers witnessed last season, when Walker Buehler went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA in 16 extremely choppy starts in his return from a second Tommy John before rebounding to throw 10 scoreless innings in the National League Championship Series and World Series. “You have a second Tommy John, clearly your body is telling you something, that it doesn’t like the way things are going,” Taillon said. I think it can help with guys’ sequencing and timing, and ultimately will take some stress off of an arm.” With the grueling rehabilitation process behind him and the season ahead, Taillon said it will be important for Ohtani to monitor his workload on the practice field this spring and between starts during the season and to tailor his strength-and-conditioning and arm-care programs to the needs of a two-time Tommy John surgery patient. “That stuff is really important coming off a second Tommy John, being diligent in-season, making sure you monitor every throw and that everything you’re doing in the weight room and the training room has a purpose,” said Taillon, who also overcame testicular cancer in 2017.